dtremit

A couple of sorbet successes recently: Lychee (2 drained cans of lychees in syrup, pureed, with a tablespoon or so of liquid glucose and syrup from the can to top off to the max fill line) Mango-Coconut (used up a 14oz can of Del Monte mango bits after my Indian puree seemed off; pureed and added 1T glucose. That got me to about 2/3 full; made up the rest with coconut milk and a few TB of sugar) Both did great after a single spin. I didn't go through a formal calculation of sugar percentage — froze these in a hurry — but I think they were on the lower side.

Indeed, the primary ingredients (outside of flavoring and sweetening agents) appear to be "modified cornstarch," maltodextrin, and xanthan gum, all of which seem to pop up in ice cream recipes from time to time. That said, one thing I've noticed about Facebook recipes is they seem to always include a weird surplus of flavored, sweetened ingredients — over in the Instant Pot group people are obsessed with yogurt made with flavored creamers. No thank you. It works fine with just milk.

If you zoom in on the product image it appears that the new one has the ability to process either the top or bottom half of the container separately, which is kind of nice. It also appears to have a countdown timer, though I question its utility given it's a single digit! The drinkables don't appeal to me much (and my inner curmudgeon is irked by the words "creamiccino" and "slushi"). But I suppose if I were in the market for the first time, I might like the new one better.

Really looking forward to your review — that looks like a *fantastic* design for a <$1k machine. Ticks a lot of boxes for me: fairly compact, >12" seal bar, deep enough to seal small jars on its own, and an accessory port.

Yeah, I think if you take stuff out of your cart during the shopping window it wouldn't ship out. I personally prefer the "old way" and would be sad to see it go away, but I imagine there's a number of people who'd like to "set and forget."

I just got an email from Umamicart noting that they are now delivering to a much wider area — looks like they're expanding from BOS/NYC/DC to everything east of the Mississippi (except, oddly, Louisiana).

Misfits added an option back in May called a "Weekly Grocery Plan"; if you opt into it, it works like Imperfect and auto-ships a pre-filled cart: "When you shop at Misfits Market you’re already cutting out the hassle of a grocery trip. Now you can put your shopping on autopilot with our new weekly grocery plan. Just opt-in to the plan and we’ll pre-fill your cart with some of your favorite items each week so you’ll never forget to stock your fridge. Your picks will be personalized based on your past orders, and you can also select what you like and dislike in our new Preferences feature so you’ll get first dibs on what you love." It's supposed to have been "opt in" for any existing customers, though. So unless @MetsFan5 opted in, there should have been no auto-shipment. (It should also be possible to opt back out.)

Hey, it's been a long couple of years 🤣

I'm always amazed when someone manages to mess up dumplings — they're so easy to get right! But so many supermarket ones are terrible. In the grand eGullet tradition of enabling, I am obligated to point out that Mala Market sells that same (excellent) doubanjiang and a lot of other high quality versions of Sichuan ingredients. I have been using their 10 year Baoning vinegar as a sort of finishing vinegar for a lot of Chinese dishes or dipping sauces lately and have been very impressed. (Expensive, but it's quite a big bottle.) Their Sichuan peppercorns are notably better than the ones I've gotten from supermarkets as well — and it's the only place in the US I have ever seen caiziyou (unrefined rapeseed oil, traditionally used a lot in Sichuan). A few things they sell are a bit ridiculously priced (like the zhacai and yacai) — I don't begrudge a small business the markup, but I can get those easily elsewhere. All of this is making me want to cook more Sichuan food — think it will be on the menu this week! Might be time to finally set up the outdoor wok burner...

Oh, totally. A while back I used up a bunch of odds and ends to make an "allium oil" that I double strained and kept in the fridge — useful for all sorts of things. A jar of the Vietnamese pre-crisped shallots and garlic would be a good mix in on lazy nights.

Pricing for "upscale" chili crisps seems to be all over the map. We have been buying a local one from someone who does Malaysian food pop-ups — his 8oz jars are $12. But I saw another from a local restaurant for $24! 😳 I make my own chili oil but am always terrified of anything homemade involving garlic in oil. I know it is probably completely safe if the garlic is shaved and fried (and if store-bought peeled garlic is used, as it's acidulated), but I tend towards the paranoid sometimes 😅 Yours looks amazing, though — might convince me to take the plunge.

I'm getting big Juicero vibes from this. I can't imagine buying a $350 machine dependent on some unknown company's proprietary pods. Doesn't much matter how good they are if you can't buy them. As an aside, it looks like the Frolic is more similar to the Pacojet in two (relatively unimportant) ways — the "bayonet" mount for the pod holder, and the way the blade mounts to the motor shaft. The Chris Young video upthread noted that those were two areas where the Creami changed the Pacojet design to make it a bit more consumer friendly. I'm curious to know if that means the Frolic is basically a carbon copy of the Pacojet from the (now expired) patent.

@Maison Rustique — my experience has been that Misfits does better than Imperfect on anything that needs to stay frozen. Much better packaging. I think because it has to endure FedEx they have to put in more effort. Imperfect is still usually fine but every few boxes I end up with an insulated pack they've left half open and have to pitch a few things. They always refund, but it's annoying. Have mostly stopped ordering raw meat from them so I don't have to worry about it.

Did you use instant coffee, and if so, what brand? I am always wanting to buy some for dessert use but never know how to pick a good one.

That's odd — I've not had any issues with the knobs on the Le Creuset I have, despite using them in the oven quite a bit. I did proactively replace the knob on one pan with their newer stainless one ($10 then — they've gone way up!) when I started using it for bread baking, but the other pan is going on 20 years old and the phenolic knob is in great shape. They now say the plastic knobs are rated at 500°F but I swear it used to be lower. I did manage to somehow ruin the finish on one of the dutch ovens after someone burned tomato sauce onto it really badly. I tried just about everything to get that stuff off; it worked in the end but the interior finish is dull and now everything sticks to it. Fortunately that pan is just the right size for bread baking so I have just used it for that of late. One of these days I'll get around to making a warranty claim.

Ah! This one would have been ideal, but alas, I didn't see it yesterday and it's out of stock today. That said, I suspect I might actually be happier with the Le Creuset for this particular shape of pan, thanks to the light interior. It would get a lot of use with things where seeing the food's color clearly would help.

Wirecutter reviewed it very positively though they balked at the price. The $99 Camp Chef looks like an intriguing alternative — it doesn't have the nice helper handles, but for a 60% discount it might be fine. Plus I suspect I could find a non-bread use for a 12 quart cast iron pan (and large oval skillet) at some point. (Edited to add — though you might need to factor in the cost of a pair of welding gloves to get the lid off.)

Appears to be available elsewhere at that price (W-S, Saks, Amazon, etc) in case it's more convenient — it's the best price it's ever been on Amazon, though it has been on sale for that price a few times recently. Weirdly the lowest price appears to be $84.99 at King Arthur Baking. Shipping brings it up to the same price as everywhere else, though. Now if only they'd have a similar sale on the glass-lidded braiser...

I think at this point, the higher end 2-man lines are all branded "Zwilling" and the lower-end 1-man lines are all branded "Henckels."

The mango of disappointment! I suspect we're hitting the end of mango season from some country or other right now. It's generally been a good year for them, though. Apparently mango imports from India are back for the first time since 2019. I always have wanted to find a case at a local Indian market but never get the timing right.

I don't think the air hole idea would work; I think it would just pull in air around the motor shaft at the top of the container. Chamber vac might work — or even putting the pint in a FoodSaver canister after processing.

Definitely jealous of all that you can get in and near NYC — I have heard legends about some of the markets! Do you mind me asking the name of that first place? It sounds like it might be worth a stop if we're passing through the area. That being said, we are still better off here in Boston than many many other places — and have way more options than we had ten or twenty years ago. There is not too much I can't find in terms of essential ingredients for most any cuisine I'm trying to make. On the flip side, the delivery services keep me from spending the entire afternoon browsing the aisles — the last time I went to the local Chinese market it took me about 90 minutes to get through the store!

I know what you mean — I am very particular about certain things, especially condiments. (The Sriraja Panich shortage a few years back was painful — I haven't even found another Thai brand I truly like.) I feel like SayWeee! and YamiBuy have slightly better selection of more traditional pantry items — whereas Umamicart's selection leans a *little* more towards more trendy brands like Omsom and Fly By Jing. You might be better off with one of the other two for your particular staples.

I didn't take a picture, but our latest delivery box was from a specialty cousin of these services — Umamicart. I'd been thinking of placing an order from some time and was motivated by a discount. Ended up getting a mix of produce (thai chiles and basil, bok choy, gai lan, curry leaves, and lemongrass), some fresh noodles, frozen buns, and a bunch of pantry staples (laoganma black bean, nam prik, pickled mustard, samba, ginkgo nuts, one of the fancy Omsom kits, and some rice and tapioca flours). Decided to limit my frozen order and avoid raw meat on the first order just so I could test their shipping (which was great). Pricing on some things is a bit higher than local stores, but not that much, and the produce quality was excellent. Definitely the freshest Thai chiles I've gotten in a while. Packaging was similar to Misfits with the thick insulation lining the box and frozen stuff in insulated bags within. Anything glass was super well wrapped; I might even dare to order fish sauce from them. Shipping was FedEx from Long Island City and *fast* — I ordered at 1PM on the 9th, it was out the door by 5PM, and arrived at 1PM the next day. Definitely would order again, though I also want to try the amusingly named SayWeee! for comparison. YamiBuy is another option, but they only do nonperishable stuff.

Agree 100% — celery leaves are wonderful, and have a rather different flavor than the stalks. My partner hates cilantro, and I've sometimes used celery leaves instead; they seem to fit in the same places.